About

Gerard Weber has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Canada, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. A few highlights of Gerard’s musical achievements include the first place winner of the woodwind category at the 2012 National Music Festival Competition of Canada, winner of the 2013 Shurniak Concerto Competition, and winner of the 47th Annual University of Florida Concerto Competition. Gerard has been featured as a soloist with the Regina Symphony Orchestra, the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, the University of Saskatchewan Wind Orchestra, and the University of Florida Orchestra, Wind Symphony, and University Chorus. He was a featured soloist at the 2013 World Music Contest held in Kerkrade, Netherlands, with the University of Saskatchewan Wind Orchestra. Gerard was also awarded the University of Saskatchewan Film Society Prize for the most outstanding fine arts graduate for 2013 Spring Convocation.

As a member of the North American Saxophone Alliance, Gerard performed in the 2013 and 2017 Region IX Conferences, the 2014 and 2016 Biennial Conferences, and the 2015 Region XI Conference. Musicological presentations include a research project on the incorporation of classical and Medieval rhetoric as performance practice for saxophonists (NASA 2013 Region IX Conference) and an overview and interpretation of the musical instrument innovations of Adolphe Sax (Adolphe Sax 2014 Bicentennial Celebration, University of Florida). Gerard’s research interests include Medieval and Renaissance notation, performance, and analysis, as well as a historically informed foundation for performance of saxophone literature. Gerard was recently invited to submit a paper to a volume specifically celebrating the life and compositions of Canadian composer Murray Adaskin, titled “The Vision of Murray Adaskin (1906-2002): His Contributions to the Musical Scene of Canada and Beyond” (edited by Eli Bornstein, Sheila Kreyszig, and Walter Kreyszig, publication forthcoming). The title of Gerard’s contribution is “A ‘Distinctly Canadian’ Composer: Personification and Self-Identification in the Woodwind Quintets of Murray Adaskin (Victoria, British Columbia, 1974 & 1993; Adaskin Nos. 21 & 22).”

Gerard received his Bachelor of Music Honors degree from the University of Saskatchewan and earned the Master of Music degree from the University of Florida. Gerard’s influential teachers and mentors include Dr. Jonathan Helton, Dr. Jennifer Thomas, Dr. Glen Gillis, Dr. Walter Kreyszig, Troy Linsley, Stephanie Balon, and Kimberly Drury.

Gerard is currently based in Saskatoon as a performer and educator. In Saskatoon, Gerard has been involved with a number of musical organizations and events, including the Fireside Singers’ productions of Les Misérables and The Wizard of Oz, The Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra, the North Saskatchewan Wind Symphony, the Strata New Music Festival (www.sasknewmusic.com), and the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival. Gerard’s most recent project, the Gerard Weber Group, focuses on the music of jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and original works inspired by electronic manipulation of acoustic instruments.